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Natural tyiztoty of t^c ostitis 3I#ei 



The following series of works, being portions of a Natural 
History of the British Isles, is illustrated by many hundred 
engravings ; every species has been drawn and engraved under 
the immediate inspection of the authors ; the best artists have 
been employed, and no care or expense has been spared. 

QUADEUPEDS. By Professor Bell. A new Edition. (In 
the press.) 

BIRDS. By Mr. Yarrell. Third Edition. Three vols. 
£4 14-5. 6d. 

COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EGOS OF 
BIRDS. By Mrs. Hewitson. Third Edition. 2 vols. 
£4 14s. 6d. 

REPTILES. By Professor Bell. Second Edition. 12s. 
FISHES. By Mr. Yarrell. Third Edition. Edited by Sir 

John Richardson. Two vols. £3 3s. 
STALK-EYED CRUSTACEA. By Professor Bell. 8vo. 

£1 5s. 

SESSILE-EYED CRUSTACEA. By Mr. Spence Bate and 
Professor Westwood. Parts I. to X. 2s. 6d. each. 

STAR-FISHES. By Professor Edward Forbes. 15s. 

ZOOPHYTES. By Dr. Johnston. Second Edition. 2 vols. 
£2 2s. 

MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS AND THEIR SHELLS. By 
Professor Edward Forbes and Mr. Hanley. Four vols. 
8vo, £6 10s. ; royal 8vo, coloured, £13. 

FOREST TREES. By Mr. Selby. £1 8s. 

FERNS. By Mr. Newman. Third Edition. 18s. 

FOSSIL MAMMALS AND BIRDS. By Professor Owen. 
£1 lis. 6d. 



Foolscap 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
HOUSE DOGS AND SPORTING DOGS: 
Their Varieties, Points, Management, Training, Breeding, and 
Diseases. 
By John Meyrick. 
"We strongly recommend Mr. Meyrick's book to the sports- 
man and the dog-fanciers of both sexes, and their name is 
legion, and promise them they will find in it whatever is 
indispensable to the selection, multiplication, and care of the 
dog ; in short, a little canine encyclopaedia." — Examiner. 



JOHN VAN VOORST, 1 PATERNOSTER ROW. 




London: Published by John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row. 




(7 




CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 




" Touch brim ! touch foot ! the wine is red, 
And leaps to the lips of the free ; 
Our wassail true is quickly said, — 
Comrade ! I drink to thee ! 

' 1 Touch foot ! touch brim ! who cares ? who cares ? 
Brothers in sorrow or glee, 
Glory or danger each gallantly shares, — 
Comrade ! I drink to thee ! 

"Touch brim ! touch foot ! once again, old friend, 
Though the present our last draught be ; 
We were boys — we are men — we'll be true to the end — 
Brother ! I drink to thee ! " 




LONDON: 
JOHN VAN VOOBST, PATEENOSTEE EOW. 

MDCCCLXIII. 



o 



ZL h~ & If 8 



PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, 
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 



PREFACE. 



The principal object of these pages is to furnish 
a collection of recipes for the brewing of com- 
pound drinks, technically termed " Cups," all of 
which have been selected with the most scrupu- 
lous attention to the rules of gastronomy, and 
their virtues tested and approved by repeated 
trials. These we are inclined to put into type, 
from a belief that, if they were more generally 
adopted, it would be the means of getting rid 
of a great deal of that stereotyped drinking 
which at present holds sway at the festive 
boards of England. In doing this, we have 
endeavoured to simplify the matter as much as 
possible, adding such hints and remarks as may 
prove serviceable to the uninitiated, whilst we 
have discarded a goodly number of modern com- 
pounds as unpalatable and unscientific. As, in 
this age of progress, most things are raised to 
the position of a science, we see no reason why 



PREFACE. 



Bacchanology (if the term please our readers) 
should not hold a respectable place, and be 
entitled to its due mead of praise ; so, by way 
of introduction, we have ventured to take a 
cursory glance at the customs which have been 
attached to drinking from the earliest periods to 
the present time. This, however, we set forth as 
no elaborate history, but only as an arrange- 
ment of such scraps as have from time to time 
fallen in our way, and have helped us to form 
ideas of the social manners of bygone times. 

We have selected a sprig of Borage for our 
frontispiece, by reason of the usefulness of that 
pleasant herb in the flavouring of cups. Else- 
where than in England, plants for flavouring are 
accounted of rare virtue. So much are they 
esteemed in the East, that an anti-Brahminical 
writer, showing the worthlessness of Hindu 
superstitions, says, 66 They command you to cut 
down a living and sweet basil-plant, that you 
may crown a lifeless stone/' Our use of flavour- 
ing-herbs is the reverse of this justly condemned 
one; for we crop them that hearts may be 
warmed and life lengthened. 

And here we would remark that, although 
our endeavours are directed towards the resusci- 
tation of better times than those we live in — 



PREFACE. V 

times of heartier customs and of more genial 
ways, — we raise no lamentation for the departure 
of the golden age, in the spirit of Hoffmann von 
Fallersleben, who sings — 

" Would our bottles but grow deeper, 
Did our wine but once get cheaper, 
Then on earth there might unfold 
The golden times — the age of gold ! 

" Eut not for us ; we are commanded 
To go with temperance even-handed. 
The golden age is for the dead : 
We 've got the paper age instead ! 

" For ah ! our bottles still decline, 
And daily dearer grows our wine, 
And flat and void our pockets fall, — 
Faith ! soon there '11 be no times at all ! " 

This is rather the cry of those who live that 
they may drink, than of our wiser selves, who 
drink that we may live. In truth, we are not 
dead to the charms of other drinks, in modera- 
tion. The apple has had a share of our favour, 
being recommended to our literary notice by an 
olden poet : 

" Praised and caress' d, the tuneful Phillips sung 
Of cyder famed — whence first his laurels sprung;" 

and we have looked with a friendly eye upon 
the wool of a porter-pot, and involuntarily apo- 
strophised it in the words of the old stanza — 



VI 



PREFACE. 



" Rise then, my Muse, and to the world proclaim 
The mighty charms of porter's potent name/' 

without the least jealous feeling being aroused 
at the employment of a Muse whose labours 
ought to be secured solely for humanity j but a 
cup-drink — little and good — will, for its social 
and moral qualities, ever hold the chief place in 
our likings. 

Lastly, although we know many of our friends 
to be first-rate judges of pleasant beverages, yet 
we believe that but few of them are acquainted 
with their composition or history in times past. 
Should therefore any hints we may have thrown 
out assist in adding to the conviviality of the 
festive board, we feel we shall not have scribbled 
in vain ; and we beg especially to dedicate this 
bagatelle to all those good souls who have been 
taught by experience that a firm adhesion to the 
"pigskin," and a rattling galopade to the music 
of the twanging horn and the melody of the 
merry Pack, is the best incentive to the enjoy- 
ment of all good things, especially good appetite, 
good fellowship, and 



Good Health. 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



" Then shall our names, 

Familiar in their mouths as household words, 
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember d." 



As in all countries and in all ages drinking has existed 
as a necessary institution, so we find it has been in- 
variably accompanied by its peculiar forms and cere- 
monies ; but in endeavouring to trace these, we are at 
once beset with the difficulty of fixing a starting-point. 
If we were inclined to treat the subject in a rollicking 
fashion, we could find a high antiquity ready-made to 
our hands in the apocryphal doings of mythology, and 
might quote the nectar of the gods as the first of all 
potations ; for we are told that 

" When Mars, the God of War, of Venus first did think, 
He laid aside his helm and shield, and mix'd a drop of drink." 

But it is our intention, at the risk of being considered 
pedantic, to discourse on customs more tangible and 
real. If we are believers in the existence of pre- Adamite 
man, the records he has left us, in the shape of flint- 
and stone-implements, are far too difficult of solution to 

B 



2 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



be rendered available for drinking purposes, or to assist 
us in forming any idea of his inner life ; we must 
therefore commence our history at the time 

u when God made choice to rear 

His mighty champion, strong above compare, 
Whose drink was only from the limpid brook." 

Nor need we pause to dilate on the quality of this 
primaeval draught ; for " Adam's ale " has always been 
an accepted world-wide beverage, even before drinking- 
fountains were invented, and will continue till the end 
of time to form the foundation of every other drinkable 
compound. Neither was it necessary for the historian 
to inform us of the vessel from which our grand pro- 
genitor quaffed his limpid potion, since our common 
sense would tell us that the hollowed palm of his hand 
would serve as the readiest and most probable means. 
To trace the origin of drinking- vessels, and apply it to 
our modern word " cup/' we must introduce a singular 
historical fact, which, though leading us to it by rather 
a circuitous route, it would not be proper to omit. We 
must go back to a high antiquity, if we would seek the 
derivation of the word, inasmuch as its Celtic root is 
nearly in a mythologic age, so far as the written history 
of the Celts is concerned, — though the barbarous 
custom from which the signification of our cups or 
goblets is taken (that of drinking mead from the skull 
of a slain enemy) is proved by chronicles to have been 
in use up to the eleventh century. From this, a cup or 
goblet for containing liquor was called the Skull or 
Skoll, a root-word nearly retained in the Icelandic Skal, 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



3 



Skaal, and Skyllde, the German Schale, the Danish 
Skaal, and, coming to our own shores, in the Cornish 
Skala. So ale-goblets in Celtic were termed Kalt-skaal ; 
and, though applied in other ways, the word lingers in 
the Highland Scotch as Skiel (a tub), and in the Ork- 
neys the same word does duty for a flagon. From this 
root, though more immediately derived from Scutella^ 
a concave vessel, through the Italian Scodella and the 
French Ecuelle (a porringer), we have the homestead 
word Skillet still used in England. There is no lack, 
in old chronicles, of examples illustrative of that most 
barbarous practice of converting the skull of an enemy 
into a drinking-cup. Warnefrid, in his work 'De 
Gestis Longobard./ says, "Albin slew Cuminum, and 
having carried away his head, converted it into a 
drinking-vessel, which kind of cup with us is called 
Schala." The same thing is said of the Boii by Livy, 
of the Scythians by Herodotus, of the Scordisci by 
Rufus Festus, of the Gauls by Diodorus Siculus, and of 
the Celts by Silius Italicus. Hence it is that Ragnar 
Lodbrog, in his death-song, consoles himself with the 
reflection, " I shall soon drink beer from hollow cups 
made of skulls " 

In more modern times, the middle ages for example, 
we find historic illustration of a new use of the word, 
where Skoll was applied in another though allied sense. 
Thus it is said of one of the leaders in the Gowryan 
conspiracy "that he did drink his skoll to my Lord 
Duke," meaning that the health of that nobleman was 
pledged ; and again, at a festive table, we read that the 

b2 



4 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



scoll passed about ; and, as a still better illustration, 
Calderwood says that drinking the king's skole meant 
the drinking of his cup in honour of him, which, he 
adds, should always be drank standing. In more 
modern times, however, drinking-cups have been formed 
of various materials, all of which have, at least in 
regard to idea, a preferable and more humane founda- 
tion than the one from which we derive the term. Thus, 
for many centuries past, gold and silver vessels of every 
form and pattern have been introduced, either with or 
without lids, and with or without handles. In the last 
century it was very fashionable to convert the egg of 
the ostrich or the polished shell of the cocoa-nut, set in 
silver, into drinking-vessels. 

Various tankards were in use, among which we may 
mention the Peg-tankard and the Whistle-tankard, 
the latter of which was constructed with a whistle, 
attached to the brim, which could be sounded when the 
cup required replenishing (from which, in all proba- 
bility, originated the saying, "If you want more, you 
must whistle for it ") ; or, in more rare instances, the 
whistle was so ingeniously contrived at the bottom of 
the vessel that it would sound its own note when the 
tankard was empty. The Peg-tankard was an ordinary- 
shaped mug, having in the inside a row of eight pins, 
one above another, from top to bottom : this tankard 
held two quarts, so that there was a gill of ale, i. e. half 
a pint, Winchester measure, between each pin. The 
first person who drank w T as to empty the tankard to the 
first peg or pin, the second was to empty to the next 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



5 



pin, and so on; the pins were therefore so many 
measures to the compotators, making them all drink 
alike, or the same quantity ; and as the space between 
each pin was such as to contain a large draught of liquor, 
the company would be very liable by this method to 
get drunk, especially when, if they drank short of the 
pin, or beyond it, they were obliged to drink again. 
For this reason, in Archbishop Anselm's Canons, made 
in the Council at London in 1102, priests are enjoined 
not to go to drinking-bouts, nor to drink to pegs. 
This shows the antiquity of the invention, which, at 
least, is as old as the Conquest. There is a cup now in 
the possession of Henry Howard, Esq., of Corby Castle, 
which is said to have belonged to Thomas a Becket. 
It is made of ivory set in gold, with an inscription 
round the edge of it, "Drink thy wine with joy and 
on the lid is engraved the words " Sobrii estote," with 
the initials T. B. interlaced with a mitre, from which 
circumstance it is attributed to Thomas a Becket ; but 
in reality the cup is a work of the 16th century. 

Among other drinking-vessels, we may also mention 
a curious cup possessed by the Vintners* Company, repre- 
senting a milk-maid carrying a pail on her head. This 
pail is arranged to act on a swivel ; and so ingeniously 
is it contrived, that those of the uninitiated who are 
invited to partake of it invariably receive its contents upon 
their bosom. In the latter half of the last century, beer 
was usually carried from the cellar to the table in large 
tankards made of leather, called Blackjacks, some of which 
are still to be found, as also smaller ones more refined in 



6 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS, 



their workmanship, and having either an entire lining 
of silver, or a rim of silver to drink from, on which it 
was customary to inscribe the name of the owner, 
together with his trade or occupation. At the end of 
the last century, also, glasses were manufactured of a 
taper form, like a tall champagne-glass, but not less 
than between two and three feet in height, from which it 
was considered a great feat to drain the contents, gene- 
rally consisting of strong ale, without removing the 
glass from the lips, and without spilling any of the 
liquor, — a somewhat difficult task towards the conclu- 
sion, on account of the distance the liquid had to pass 
along the glass before reaching its receptacle. 

The earliest record we have of wine is in the Book of 
Genesis, where we are told, " Noah began to be an hus- 
bandman, and he planted a vineyard," from which it is 
evident he knew the use that might be made of the fruit 
by pressing the juice from it and preserving it : he was, 
however, deceived in its strength by its sweetness ; for, 
we are told, " he drank of the wine, and was drunken/ 5 
When the offspring of Noah dispersed into the different 
countries of the world, they carried the vine with them, 
and taught the use which might be made of it. Asia 
was the first country to which the gift was imparted ; 
and from thence it quickly spread to Europe and Africa, 
as we learn from the Iliad of Homer ; from which book 
we also learn that, at the time of the Trojan war, part of 
the commerce consisted in the freight of wines. In 
order to arrive at customs and historical evidence less 
remote, we must take refuge, as historians have done 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



7 



before us, in the inner life of the two great empires of 
Greece and Rorne, among whom we find the ceremonies 
attached to drinkingwere by no means sparse; and as the 
Romans copied most of their social manners from the 
Greeks, the formalities observed among the two nations 
in drinking differ but little. In public assemblies the 
wine-cup was never raised to the lips without previously 
invoking a blessing from a supposed good deity, from 
which custom it is probable that the grace-cup of later 
days took its origin ; and at the conclusion of their feast, 
a cup was quaffed to their good genius, termed " pocu- 
lum boni Dei," which corresponds in the present day 
with the " coup d'etrier " of the French, the " dock un 
dorish" of the Highland Scotch, and the "parting- 
pot " of our own country. The Romans also frequently 
drank the healths of their Emperors ; and among other 
toasts they seldom forgot " absent friends," though we 
have no record of their drinking to " all friends round 
St. Peter's." It was customary at their entertainments 
to elect, by throwing the dice, a person termed " arbiter 
bibendi," to act much in the same way as our modern 
toast-master, his business being to lay down to the 
company the rules to be observed in drinking, with the 
power to punish such as did not conform to them. 
The gods having been propitiated, the master of the 
feast drank his first cap to the most distinguished 
guest, and then handed a full cup to him, in which 
he acknowledged the compliment ; the cup was then 
passed round by the company, invariably from left to 
right, and always presented with the right hand : on 



8 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



some occasions each person had his own cup, which a 
servant replenished as soon as it was emptied, as 
described in the feast of Homer's heroes. The vessels 
from which they drank were generally made of wood, 
decorated with gold and silver, and crowned with 
garlands, as also were their heads, particular flowers 
and herbs being selected, which were supposed to keep 
all noxious vapours from the brain. In some cases their 
cups were formed entirely of gold, silver, or bronze. A 
beautiful example of a bronze cup was found in Wilt- 
shire, having the names of five Roman towns as an 
inscription, and richly decorated with scenes of the 
chase, from which it has been imagined that it belonged 
to a club or society of persons, probably hunters, and 
may have been one of their prizes : they also used cups 
made from the horns of animals. The chief beverage 
among the Greeks and Romans was the fermented juice 
of the grape, but the particular form of it is a matter of 
some uncertainty. The " vinum albinum " was probably 
a kind of Frontignac, and of all wines was most esteemed 
by the Romans, — though Horace speaks in such glowing 
terms of Falernian, which was a strong and rough wine, 
and was not fit for drinking till it had been kept ten 
years, and even then it was customary to mix honey 
with it to soften it. Homer speaks of a famous wine of 
Maronea in Thrace, which would bear mixing with 
twenty times the quantity of water, although it was a 
common practice among the natives to drink it in its 
pure state. The customary dilution among the Greeks 
appears to have consisted of one part of wine to three 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 9 

parts of water, — the word "nympha" being used in 
many classical passages for water, as for example in a 
Greek epigram the literal translation of which is, " He 
delights in mingling with three Nymphs, making him - 
self the fourth this alludes to the custom of mixing 
three parts of water with one of wine. In Greece, the wines 
of Cyprus, Lesbos, and Ohio were much esteemed; those 
of Lesbos are especially mentioned by Horace as being 
wholesome and agreeable, as in Ode 17, Book I., — 

u Hie innocentis pocula Lesbii 
Duces sub umbra." 
" Beneath the shade you here may dine, 
And quaff the harmless Lesbian wine." 

The wines of Chio, however, held the greatest reputa- 
tion, which was such that the inhabitants of that island 
were thought to have been the first who planted the vine 
and taught the use of it to other nations ; these wines 
were held in such esteem and were of so high a value 
at Rome, that in the time of Lucullus, at their greatest 
entertainments, they drank only one cup of them, at 
the end of the feast ; but as sweetness and delicacy of 
flavour were their prevailing qualities, this final cup 
may have been taken as a liqueur. Both the Greeks 
and the Romans kept their wine in large earthenware 
jars, made with narrow necks, swollen bodies, and 
pointed at the bottom, by which they were fixed into 
the earth ; these vessels, called Amphorae, though 
generally of earthenware, are mentioned by Homer as 
being constructed of gold and of stone. Among the 
Romans it was customary, at the time of filling their 

b 5 



10 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



wine-vessels, to inscribe upon them the name of the 
consul under whose office they were filled, thus 
supplying them with a good means of distinguishing 
their vintages and pointing out the excellence of 
particular ones, much in the same way as we now 
speak of the vintages of '20, '34, or '41. Thus, Pliny 
mentions a celebrated wine which took its name from 
Opimius, in whose consulate it was made, and was 
preserved good to his time (a period of nearly 200 
years). The vessel used for carrying the wine to 
the table was called Ampulla, being a small bulging 
bottle, covered with leather, and having two handles, 
which it would be fair to consider as the original type 
of the famous " leathern bottel," the inventor of which 
is so highly eulogized in the old song— 

" I wish that his soul in heaven may dwell, 
Who first invented the leathern bottel." 

Although the ancients were well acquainted with the 
excellence of wine, they were not ignorant of the dangers 
attending the abuse of it. Salencus passed a law for- 
bidding the use of wine, upon pain of death, except in 
case of sickness ; and the inhabitants of Marseilles and 
Miletus prohibited the use of it to women. At Rome, 
in the early ages, young persons of high birth were 
not permitted to drink wine till they attained the age of 
thirty, and to women the use of it was absolutely for- 
bidden ; but Seneca complains of the violation of this law, 
and says that in his day the women valued themselves 
upon carrying excess of wine to as great a height as the 
most robust men. " Like them," says he, " they pass 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



11 



whole nights at tables, and, with a full glass of an mixed 
wine in their hands, they glory in vying with them, and, 
if they can, in overcoming them/" This worthy philo- 
sopher, however, appears not to have considered excess 
of drinking in men a vice ; for he goes so far as to 
advise men of high-strained minds to get intoxicated 
now and then. " Not," says he, " that it may over- 
power us, but only relax our overstrained faculties." 
Soon afterwards he adds, " Do you call Cato's excess 
in wine a vice? Much sooner may you be able to 
prove drunkenness to be a virtue, than Cato to be 
vicious." 

Let us, with these casual remarks, leave the Greeks 
and Romans, with jovial old Horace at their head, 
quaffing his cup of rosy Ealernian, his brow smothered 
in evergreens (as was his wont), and pass on to our 
immediate ancestry, the Anglo-Saxon race; not for- 
getting, however, that the ancient Britons had their 
veritable cup of honeyed drink, called Metheglin, 
though this may be said indeed to have had a still 
greater antiquity, if Ben Jonson is right in pronouncing 
it to have been the favourite drink of Demosthenes 
while composing his excellent and mellifluous orations. 
The Anglo-Saxons not only enjoyed their potations, 
but conducted them with considerable pomp and 
ceremony, although, as may readily be conceived, from 
want of civilization, excess prevailed. In one of our 
earliest Saxon romances we learn that " it came to the 
mind of Hrothgar to build a great mead-hall, which was 
to be the chief palace and, farther on, we find this 



12 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



palace spoken of as " the beer-hall, where the Thane 
performed his office, — he that in his hand bare the 
twisted ale-cup, from which he poured the bright, sweet 
liquor, while the poet sang serene, and the guests 
boasted of their exploits." Furthermore we learn, that 
when the queen entered, she served out the liquor, first 
offering the cup to her lord and master, and afterwards 
to the guests. In this romance, " the dear or precious 
drinking-cup, from which they quaffed the mead," is 
also spoken of : and as these worthies had the peculiar 
custom of burying the drinking-cups with their dead, 
we may conclude they were held in high esteem, while 
at the same time it gives us an opportunity of actually 
seeing the vessels of which the romance informs us; for 
in Saxon graves, or barrows, they are now frequently 
found. They were principally made of glass ; and the 
twisted pattern alluded to appears to have been the 
most prevailing shape. Several other forms have been 
discovered, all of which, however, are so formed with 
rounded bottoms that they will not stand by them- 
selves; consequently their contents must have been 
quaffed before replacing them on the table. It is 
probable that from this peculiar shape we derive our 
modern word " tumbler ;" and, if so, the freak attributed 
to the Prince Regent, and, since his time, occasionally 
performed at our Universities, of breaking the stems 
off the wine-glasses in order to ensure their being 
emptied of the contents, was no new scheme, it having 
been employed by our ancestors in a more legitimate 
and less expensive manner. We also find, in Anglo- 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



13 



Saxon graves, pitchers from which the drink was poured, 
differing but little from those now in common use, as 
well as buckets in which the ale was conveyed from the 
cellar. That drinking- cups among the Anglo-Saxons 
were held in high esteem, and were probably of con- 
siderable value, there can be no doubt, from the frequent 
mention made of their being bequeathed after death; 
in proof of which, from among many others, we may 
quote the instance of the Mercian king Witlaf giving 
to the Abbey of Crowland the horn of his table, " that 
the elder monks may drink from it on festivals, and in 
their benedictions remember sometimes the soul of the 
donor," as well as the one mentioned in Gale's ' History 
of Ramsey/ to the Abbey of which place the Lady 
Ethelgiva presented " two silver cups for the use of the 
brethren in the refectory, in order that, while drink is 
served in them, my memory may be more firmly im- 
printed on their hearts." Another curious proof of the 
estimation in which they were held is, that in pictures of 
warlike expeditions, where representations of the valuable 
spoils are given, we invariably find drinking- vessels por- 
trayed most prominently. The ordinary drinks of the 
Anglo-Saxons were ale and mead, though wine was also 
used by them ; but wine is spoken of as " not the drink 
of children or of fools, but of elders and wise men and 
the scholar says he does not drink wine, because he is 
not rich enough to buy it ; from which, en passant, 
we may notice that scholars were not rich men even in 
those days, and up to the present time, we fear, have but 
little improved their worldly estate. We cannot learn 



14 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



that the Saxons were in the habit of compounding 
drinks, and, beyond the fact of their pledging each 
other with the words "Drinc-hsel" and "Wsess-hsel," 
accompanying the words with a kiss, and that min- 
strelsy formed a conspicuous adjunct to their drinking- 
festivities, we can obtain but little knowledge of the 
customs they pursued. For further information on this 
point, much may be learnt from Mr. Wright's excellent 
book of 6 Domestic Manners and Sentiments of the 
Middle Ages/ where some good illustrations of Saxon 
drinking-scenes are sketched from the Harleian and 
other manuscripts. From the scarcity of materials 
descriptive of the social habits of the Normans, we 
glean but little as to their customs of drinking ; in all 
probability they differed but slightly from those of the 
Saxons, though at this time wine became of more 
frequent use, the vessels from which it was quaffed 
being bowl-shaped, and generally made of glass. Will 
of Malmsbury, describing the customs of Glastonbury 
soon after the Conquest, says, that on particular occa- 
sions the monks had " mead in their cans, and wine in 
their grace-cup." Excess in drinking appears to have 
been looked upon with leniency ; for, in the stories of 
Reginald of Durham, we read of a party drinking all 
night at the house of a priest ; and, in another, he 
mentions a youth passing the whole night drinking 
at a tavern with his monastic teacher, till the one cannot 
prevail on the other to go home. The qualities of good 
wine in the 12th century are thus singularly set forth : — 
" It should be clear like the tears of a penitent, so that 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



15 



a man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass ; 
its colour should represent the greenness of a buffalo's 
horn ; when drunk, it should descend impetuously like 
thunder ; sweet-tasted as an almond ; creeping like 
a squirrel ; leaping like a roebuck ; strong like the 
building of a Cistercian monastery; glittering like a 
spark of fire ; subtle like the logic of the schools of 
Paris ; delicate as fine silk ; and colder than crystal." 
If we pursue our theme through the 13th, 14th, and 
15th centuries, we find but little to edify us; those 
times being distinguished more by their excess and 
riot, than by superiority of beverages, or the customs 
attached to them. It would be neither profitable nor 
interesting to descant on scenes of brawling drunken- 
ness, which ended not unfrequently in fierce battles ; 
or pause to admire the congregation of female gossips 
at the taverns, where the overhanging sign was either 
the branch of a tree, from which we derive the saying 
that " good wine needs no bush," or the equally common 
appendage of a besom hanging from the window, which 
has supplied us with the idea of "hanging out the 
broom." The chief wine drunk at this period was 
Malmsey, first imported into England in the 13th cen- 
tury, when its average price was about 50s. a butt ; 
this wine, however, attained its greatest popularity in 
the 15th century. There is a story in connexion with 
this wine which makes it familiar to every schoolboy, 
and that is the part it played in the death of the Duke 
of Clarence. Whether that nobleman did choose a butt 
of Malmsey, and thus carry out the idea of drowning 



16 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



his cares in wine, as well as his body, matters but 
little, we think, to our readers. We may however 
mention, that although great suspicion has been thrown 
on the truth of the story, the only two contemporary 
writers who mention his death, Fabyan and Comines, 
appear to have had no doubt that the Duke of Clarence 
was actually drowned in a butt of Malmsey. In the 
records kept of the expenses of Mary, Queen of 
Scots, during her captivity at Tutbury, we find a weekly 
allowance of Malmsey granted to her for a bath. In 
a somewhat scarce French book, written in the 15th 
century, entitled c La Legende de Maitre Pierre Fai- 
feri/ we find the following verse relating to the death 
of the Duke of Clarence : — 

" I have seen the Duke of Clarence 

(So his wayward fate had will'd), 
By his special order, drown' d 

In a cask with Malmsey fill'd. 
That that death should strike his fancy, 

This the reason, I suppose : 
He might think that hearty drinking 

Would appease his dying throes." 

A wine called " Clary " was also drunk at this period. 
It appears to have been an infusion of the herb of 
that name in spirit, and is spoken of by physicians of 
the time as an excellent cordial for the stomach, and 
highly efficacious in the cure of hysterical affections. 
This may in some measure account for the statement 
in the Household Ordinances for the well keeping of 
the Princess Cecil, afterwards mother to that right lusty 
and handsome King, Edward IV. ; we there find it laid 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



17 



down, " that for the maintenance of honest mirth she 
shall take, an hour before bedtime, a cup of Clary wine." 
" Red wine " is also spoken of in the reign of Henry 
VIII., but it is uncertain to what class of wine it 
belonged, or from whence it came : if palatable, how- 
ever, its cheapness would recommend it; for at the 
marriage of Gervys Clinton and Mary Neville, three 
hogsheads of it, for the wedding-feast, were bought for 
five guineas. We must not, however, pass over the 
15th century without proclaiming it as the dawn of 
the " Cup epoch," if we may be allowed the term, as 
gleaned from the rolls of some of the ancient colleges 
of our Universities. In the computus of Magstoke Priory, 
a.d. 1447, is an entry in Latin, the translation of which 
seems to be this : — " Paid for raisin wine, with comfits 
and spices, when Sir S. Montford's fool was here and 
exhibited his merriments in the oriel chamber." And 
even in Edward III/s reign, we read that at the Christ- 
mas feasts the drinks were a collection of spiced liquors, 
and cinnamon and grains of paradise were among the 
dessert confections, — evidence of compound drinks being 
in fashion; and these, although somewhat too much medi- 
cated to be in accordance with our present taste, deserve 
well of us as leading to better things. Olden worthies 
who took their cups regularly, and so lived clean and 
cheerful lives, when they were moved to give up their 
choice recipes for the public good, described them under 
the head of " kitchen physic ;" for the oldest "Curry" or 
Cookery Books (the words are synonymous) include, 
under this head, both dishes of meats and brewages of 



18 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



drinks. One cup is described as " of mighty power in 
driving away the cobweby fogs that dull the brain 
another, as " a generous and right excellent cordial, very 
comforting to the stomach and their possession of 
these good qualities was notably the reason of their ap- 
pearance at entertainments. Among the most promi- 
nent ranks the medicated composition called Hypocras, 
also stiled "Ypocras for Lords/' for the making of 
which various recipes are to be found, one of which we 
will quote : — 

" Take of Aqua vitse (brandy) . 5 oz. 

Pepper 2 oz. 

Ginger 2 oz. 

Cloves 2 oz. 

Grains of Paradise 2 oz. 

Ambergris 5 grs. 

Musk 2 grs. 

Infuse these for twenty-four hours, then put a pound 
of sugar to a quart of red wine or cider, and drop three 
or four drops of the infusion into it, and it will make it 
taste richly." This compound was usually given at 
marriage festivals, when it was introduced at the com- 
mencement of the banquet, served hot ; for it is said to 
be of so comforting and generous a nature that the 
stomach would be at once put into good temper to 
enjoy the meats provided. Hypocras was also a favourite 
winter beverage, and we find in an old almanac of 1699 
the lines — 

" Sack, Hypocras, now, and burnt brandy 
Are drinks as warm and good as can be." 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS, 



19 



Hypocras, however, is mentioned as early as the 14th 
century. From this period we select our champion of 
compound drinks in no less a personage than the noblest 
courtier of Queen Bess; for, among other legacies of 
price, Sir Walter Raleigh has handed down to us a recipe 
for " Cordial Water/ 5 which, in its simplicity and good- 
ness, stands alone among the compounds of the age. 
" Take/ 5 says he, " a gallon of strawberries and put them 
into a pint of aqua vitse ; let them stand four days, then 
strain them gently off, and sweeten the liquor as it 
pleaseth thee/ 5 This beverage, though somewhat too 
potent for modern palates, may, by proper dilution, be 
rendered no unworthy cup even in the present age. 
From the same noble hand we get a recipe for " Sack 
Posset/ 5 w T hich full well shows us propriety of taste in 
its compounder. " Boil a quart of cream, with quantum 
sufficit of sugar, mace, and nutmeg; take half a pint 
of sack, and the same quantity of ale, and boil them well 
together, adding sugar ; these, being boiled separately, 
are now to be added. Heat a pewter dish very hot, and 
coyer your basin with it, and let it stand by the fire 
for two or three hours. " 

With regard to wines, we find in the beginning of the 
16th century the demand for Malmsey w r as small ; and in 
1531 we hear u Sack 55 first spoken of, that being the 
name applied to the vintages of Candia, Cyprus, and 
Spain. Shakspeare pronounced Malmsey to be " ful- 
som/ 5 and bestowed all his praises on " fertil sherries f 
and when Shakspeare makes use of the word Sack, 
he evidently means by it a superior class of wine. Thus, 



20 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Sir Launcelot Sparcock, in the " London Prodigal," 
says — 

" Drawer, let me have sack for us old men : 
For these girls and knaves small wines are best." 

In all probability, the sack of Shakspeare was very 
much allied to, if not precisely the same as, our sherry ; 
for Falstaff says, " You rogue ! there is lime in this sack 
too. There is nothing but roguery to be found in villanous 
man ; yet a coward is worse than sack with lime in it." 
And we know that lime is used in the manufacture of 
sherry, in order to free it from a portion of malic and 
tartaric acids, and to assist in producing its dry quality. 
Sack is spoken of as late as 1717, in a parish register, 
which allows the minister a pint of it on the LordVday, 
in the winter season; and Swift, writing in 1727, has 
the lines — 

"As clever Tom Clinch, while the rabble was bawling, 
Rode stately through Holborn to die of his calling, 
He stopped at the 6 George ' for a bottle of sack, 
And promised to pay for it when he came back." 

He was probably of the same opinion as the Elizabe- 
than poet, who sang — 

" Sacke will make the merry minde be sad, 
So will it make the melancholie glad. 
If mirthe and sadnesse doth in sacke remain, 
When I am sad I'll take some sacke again." 

A recipe of this time, attributed to Sir Fleetwood 
Fletcher, is curious in its composition in more ways 
than one ; and, as we seldom find such documents in 
rhyme, we give it — 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



21 



(t From famed Barbadoes, on the western main, 
Fetch sugar, ounces four j fetch sack from Spain, 
A pint ; and from the Eastern coast, 
Nutmeg, the glory of our northern toast ; 
O'er flaming coals let them together heat, 
Till the all-conquering sack dissolve the sweet ; 
O'er such another fire put eggs just ten, 
New-born from tread of cock and rump of hen ; 
Stir them with steady hand, and conscience pricking, 
To see the untimely end of ten fine chicken ; 
From shining shelf take down the brazen skillet, — 
A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it ; 
When boil'd and cold, put milk and sack to eggs, 
Unite them firmly like the triple leagues ; 
And on the fire let them together dwell, 
Till miss sing twice — you must not kiss and tell ; 
Each lad and lass take up a silver spoon, 
And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon." 

About this time, one Lord Holies, who probably 
represented the total abstainers of the age, invented a 
drink termed Hydromel, made of honey, spring-water, 
and ginger; and a cup of this taken at night, said he, 
m will cure thee of all troubles," — thus acknowledging 
the stomachic virtues of cups, though some warping of 
his senses would not let him believe, to a curable ex- 
tent, in more potent draughts : being in charity with 
him, we hope his was a saving faith, — but we have our 
doubts of it, he died so young. Another recipe of the 
same nature was, " The Ale of health and strength," by 
the Duchess of St. Albans, which appears to have been 
a decoction of all the aromatic herbs in the garden 
(whether agreeable or otherwise), boiled up in small 
beer; and, thinking this account of its composition is 



22 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



sufficient, we will not indulge our readers with the 
various items or proportions. One of the most amusing 
descriptions of old English cheer we ever met with is 
that of Master Stephen Perlin, a French physician, 
who was in England during the reign of Edward VI. 
and Mary. He says, writing for the benefit of his coun- 
trymenj "The English, one with the other, are joyous, 
and are very fond of music ; likewise they are great 
drinkers. Now remember, if you please, that in this 
country they generally use vessels of silver when they 
drink wine ; and they will say to you usually at table, 
c Goude chere ; 3 and also they will say to you more 
than one hundred times, 'Drind oui/ and you will 
reply to them in their language, 'Iplaigui/ They 
drink their beer out of earthenware pots, of which the 
handles and the covers are of silver, &e." Worthy- 
Master Perlin seems hardly to have got on with his 
spelling of the English tongue while he was studying 
our habits ; his account, however, of olden customs is 
reliable and curious. The custom of pledging and 
drinking healths is generally stated to have originated 
with the Anglo-Saxons ; but, with such decided evidence 
before us of similar customs among the Greeks and 
Romans, we must, at any rate, refer it to an earlier 
period ; and, indeed, we may rationally surmise that, in 
some form or other, the custom has existed from time 
immemorial. In later times the term " toasting 99 was 
employed to designate customs of a similar import, 
though the precise date of the application of this term 
is uncertain ; and although we cannot accept the expla- 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



23 



nation given in the 24th number of ' The Tatler/ yet, 
for its quaintness, we will quote it : — 

" It is said that while a celebrated beauty was in- 
dulging in her bath, one of the crowd of admirers who 
surrounded her took a glass of the water in which the 
fair one was dabbling, and drank her health to the 
company, when a gay fellow offered to jump in, saying, 
' Though he liked not the liquor, he would have the 
toast?" This tale proves that toasts were put into 
beverages in those days, or the wag would not have 
applied the simile to the fair bather ; and in the reign 
of Charles II., Earl Rochester writes — 

" Make it so large that, fill'd with sack 
Up to the swelling brim, 
Vast toasts on the delicious lake, 
Like ships at sea, may swim." 

And in a panegyric on Oxford ale, written by Warton 

in 1720, we have the lines — 

" My sober evening let the tankard bless, 
With toast embrown'd, and fragrant nutmeg fraught, 
"While the rich draught, with oft-repeated whiffs, 
Tobacco mild improves." 

Johnson, in his translation of Horace, makes use of the 
expression in Ode I. Book IV. thus : — 

" There jest and feast ; make him thine host, 
If a fit liver thou dost seek to toast;" 

and Prior, in the " Camelion," says, 

u But if at first he minds his hits, 
And drinks champaign among the wits, 
Five deep he toasts the towering lasses, 
Bepeats your verses wrote on glasses." 



24 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



This last line has reference to the custom pursued in 
the clubs of the eighteenth century, of writing verses 
on the brims of their cups; they also inscribed on 
them the names of the favourite ladies whom they 
toasted : and Dr. Arbuthnot ascribes the name of the 
celebrated Kit-Cat Club, of which Dr. Johnson was a 
member, to the toasts drunk there, rather than to the 
renowned pastry-cook, Christopher Kat ; for he says — 

" From no trim beaux its name it boasts, 
Grey statesmen or green wits ; 
But from its pell-mell pack of toasts, 
Of old Cat and young Kits." 

Among the latter may be mentioned Lady Mary Mon- 
tagu, who was toasted at the age of eight years ; 
while among the former denomination we must class 
Lady Molyneux, who is said to have died with a pipe 
in her mouth. In the 17th century the custom 
of drinking health was conducted with great ceremony; 
each person rising up in turn, with a full cup, named 
some individual to whom he drank ; he then drank the 
whole contents of the cup and turned it upside down 
upon the table, giving it, at the same time, a fillip to 
make it ring, or, as our ancient authority has it, "make 
it cry 'twango/ " Each person followed in his turn; 
and, in order to prove that he had fairly emptied his 
cup, he was to pour all that remained in it on his 
thumb-nail; and if there was too much left to remain 
on the nail, he was compelled to drink his cup full 
again. If the person was present whose health was 
drank, he was expected to remain perfectly still during 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



25 



the operation, and at the conclusion to make an incli- 
nation of his head, — this being the origin of our custom 
of taking wine with each other, which, with sorrow be 
it said, is fast exploding. A very usual toast for a man 
to give was the health of his mistress ; and in France, 
when this toast was given, the proposer was expected to 
drink his cup full of wine as many times as there were 
letters in her name. 

We now pass on to times which seem, in their cus- 
toms, to approach more nearly to the present, yet far back 
enough to be called old times; and we think it may be 
pardoned if we indulge in some reminiscences of them, 
tacking on to our short-lived memories the greater recol- 
lection of history, and thus reversing the wheels of time, 
which are hurrying us forward faster than we care to go. 
For we hold it to be an excusable matter, this halting 
awhile and looking back to times of simpler manners than 
those we are living in, of heartier friendships, of more 
genial trustings^ and that these good qualities were pre- 
eminently those current during the 17th and 18th cen- 
turies we have abundant proof. Has not one of the most 
noble sentiments in the English language come down to 
us in a cup — the cup of kindness, which we are bidden 
to take for "Auld Lang Syne"? And truly there come 
to us from this age passed by, but leaving behind an 
ever-living freshness which can be made an heritage of 
cheerfulness to the end of time, such testimonies of 
good done by associable as well as social intercourse, 
that were we cynics of the most churlish kind, instead 
of people inclined to be kind and neighbourly, we could 

c 



26 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



not refuse acknowledgment of the part played in such 
deeds by the cup of kindness. Be it remembered, 
however, such bright oases in social history do not 
shine from gluttonous tables — are not the property of 
hard-drinking circles, with their attendant vices. "We 
seek for them in vain at the so-called social boards of 
the last century, where men won their spurs by exces- 
sive wine-drinking, and " three-bottle men " were the 
only gentlemen) neither do we meet them amid the 
carousals of Whitehall and Alsatia, or, nearer to our 
own day, among the vicious coteries of the Kegency. 
The scenes we like to recall and dwell upon are those 
of merry-makings and jollity; or of friendly meetings, 
as when gentle Master Isaac, returning from his fish- 
ing, brings with him two-legged fish to taste his 
brewage (and a very pleasant and commendable cup 
the great master of the gentle art will drink with them). 
Or when pious Master Herbert chances to meet with a 
man he liketh, who hath the manner of loving all things 
for the good that is in them, and who, like his greater 
companion, (for no one in that quality of mind was 
greater than Herbert,) had a respect for what, in others, 
were occasions of stumbling, could use good gifts with- 
out abusing them, and think the loving-cup of spiced 
wine an excellent good cordial for the heart. Or when 
Dr. Donne (scarce a man in England wiser than he), 
laying aside for the time his abstruse learning, mixed a 
mighty cup of gillyflower sack, and talked over it with 
Sir Kenelm Digby (hardly a lesser man than himself), 
of the good gifts lavishly offered, but by some rudely 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 27 

abused ; and by others unthankfully taken ; discussed 
the merits of plants and fruits, or the virtues, harder 
to be discovered, of stones and metals ; while they mar- 
velled at that scheme which adapted each body, animate 
or inanimate, to the station ordained to it, and at the 
infinite goodness of Him who made man head of all, 
and gave him power and discernment that he might 
show, by the moderate use of things healthy and 
nourishing, the wisdom of Him who ordained them to 
cheer and to cherish. A great regard for the whole- 
some had Sir Kenelm Digby, whose carefulness in the 
concoction of his favourite cup was such that he could 
not brew it aright if he had not Hyde Park water — a 
rule of much value in Sir Kenelm's day, no doubt ; but 
modern "improvements," unfortunately, interfere with 
the present use of it. Other apostles of the truest 
temperance (moderation) there were, and we cherish 
them as men who have deserved well of their country. 
Dr. Parr, for example, who could drink his cider-cup 
on the village green on a Sunday evening, while his 
farming parishioners played at bowls. Or again, still 
more legibly written in social history, and to some ex- 
tent leaving an impress upon our national life, the 
club-gatherings of the last century, where men of far- 
seeing and prudent philosophy (Addison, Steele, Gold- 
smith, Johnson, and others), whose names are inter- 
woven with the history of their time, meeting together, 
talked of human joys and human sorrows over claret- 
cups, — men witty themselves, and the cause of wit in 
other men, like sweet Sir John, whose devotion to 

c2 



28 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



" sherris sack " cost him his character, and will therefore 
deny him admission to our gallery of men who have 
drunk wisely and warily, and therefore well. 

While speaking of these times, we must not forget to 
mention "the cup that cheers, but not inebriates for 
it was from the introduction of tea- and coffee-houses 
that clubs sprang into existence by a process unneces- 
sary here to dilate on, but of which an excellent account 
may be found in Philip and Grace Wharton's ' Wits 
and Beaux of Society/ The first coffee-house estab- 
lished was the c Grecian/ kept by one Constantine, 
a Greek, who advertised that " the pure berry of the 
coffee was to be had of him as good as could be any- 
where found," and shortly afterwards succeeded in 
securing a flourishing trade by selling an infusion of 
the said berry in small cups. After him came Mr. Gar- 
raway, who set forth that " tea was to be had of him in 
leaf and in drink;" and thus took its rise Garraway's 
well-known coffee-house, so celebrated for the sayings 
and doings of Dr. Johnson, one of which, being some- 
what to the point, we may, in passing, notice. "I 
admit," said he, " that there are sluggish men who are 
improved by drinking, as there are fruits which are not 
good till they are rotten ; there are such men, but they 
are medlars." 

In the eighteenth century the principal cups that we 
find noted were those compounded of Beer, the names 
of which are occasionally suggestive of too great a 
familiarity on the part of their worshippers, — to wit 
Humptie-dumptie, Clamber-clown, Stiffle, Blind Pin- 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



29 



neaux, Old Pharaoh, Three-threads, Knock-me-down, 
Hugmatee, and Foxcomb. All these were current at 
the beginning of that century ; then, towards the end 
of it we find Cock-ale, Stepony, Stitchback, Northdown, 
and Mum. All these were very similar in composition, 
and their precise recipes scarcely worth recording. 
Many noted houses of entertainment, both in town and 
country, were distinguished by their particular brewage 
of these compounds. But we can only find a single 
instance of a house becoming famous in this century 
for claret-cups, in many respects the most desirable of 
any drink: that one hostelry was the ( Heaven/ in 
Fleet Street, so often quoted by the ephemeral writers 
of the age. 

Modern English customs connected with drinking 
may be said to be conspicuous from their absence ; 
for, save in the Grace-cups, and Loving-cups of civic 
entertainments and other state occasions, we do not 
remember customs worth alluding to. Certain of our 
cathedral establishments and colleges retain practices 
of ancient date relating to the passing round of the 
grace-cup ; of such is the Durham Prebend's cup, which 
is drank at certain feasts given by the resident Prebend 
to the corporation and inhabitants of the city, and for 
which, under an old charter, he is allowed a liberal sum 
of money annually, This composition is still brewed 
from the original recipe, and served in the original 
ancient silver cups, which are at least a foot high, and 
hold between two and three quarts. The cups are 
carried into the room by a chorister-boy, attired in a 



30 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



black gown, preceded by a verger, also wearing a black 
gown trimmed with silver braid, and bearing in his hand 
a silver wand. A Latin grace is then chanted, and the 
Prebend presents the boy with a shilling, who, having 
placed the cups on the table, marches out of the room, 
accompanied by the verger. The cups are then passed 
down each side of the table, and quaffed, by each guest 
in succession, to an appropriate toast. 

For the " sensation-drinks " which have lately tra- 
velled across the Atlantic we have no friendly feeling ; 
they are far too closely allied to the morning dram, 
with its thousand verbal mystifications, to please our 
taste ; and the source from which " eye-openers " and 
" smashers " come, is one too notorious for un-English 
behaviour to be welcomed by any man who deserves 
well of his country : so we will pass the American bar, 
with its bad brandies and fiery wine, and express our 
gratification at the slight success which " Pick-me-up," 
" Corpse-reviver," " Chain-lightning," and the like, 
have had in this country. 



HINTS TO CUP-BREWERS. 

There are certain things to be observed in the com- 
pounding of cups, which, though patent to every man's 
common sense, we may be pardoned for mentioning. 
When a drink is to be served hot, never let the mixture 



CUPS A.ND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



31 



boil, but let the heat be applied as gently as possible : a 
fierce heat causes the spirit to evaporate, and moreover 
destroys or materially alters the fine aromatic flavour 
on which so much of its delicacy depends. When the 
hot cup is brewed, be careful to retain the heat as much 
as possible, by a covering to the vessel ; and let it not be 
served till the moment it is required. On the other 
hand, when a cool cup is to be made, its greatest 
adjunct is ice, in lumps, which may either be retained 
in the cup, or, what is preferable, a portion of pounded 
ice should be violently shaken with the mixture and 
afterwards strained off. The best way of pounding ice 
is to wrap a block of it in a napkin and beat it with a 
mallet or rolling-pin ; and the only way of breaking up 
a block of ice into conveniently sized pieces with 
accuracy is by using a large needle or other sharp- 
pointed instrument, and striking it with a hammer. 
The rind of lemon and orange is of great service in 
flavouring cups; and it is of the utmost importance 
that this should be pared as thinly as possible, for it 
is only in the extreme outer portion that the flavour 
is contained. In making all cups, &c, where lemon- 
peel is employed, reject the white part altogether, as 
worse than useless — it imparts an unpleasant flavour 
to the beverage, and tends to make it muddy and 
discoloured. 

It was customary in olden times, as well as at the 
present, to communicate flavouring to compound drinks 
by means of different herbs, among which first in point 
of flavour is considered Borage, which is mentioned, 



32 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



as early as the 13th century, as growing in the garden 
of John De Garlande; and in a list of plants of the 
15th century, Borage stands first. It is spoken 
of in the commencement of the 18th century as one 
of the four cordial flowers, being of known virtue to 
revive the hypochondriac and cheer the hard student. 
This Borage is a plant having a small blue flower, and 
growing luxuriantly in most gardens ; by placing a 
sprig or two of it in any cool drink, it communicates 
a peculiar refreshing flavour which cannot be imitated 
by any other means. When, however, Borage cannot 
be procured, a thin slice of cucumber-peel forms a very 
good substitute; but care must be taken to use but 
one slice, or the cup will be too much impregnated with 
the flavour to be palatable. A small piece from the 
outer rind of the stalk is considered by some to possess 
superior excellence. We have made many experiments 
to extract this peculiar flavouring from Borage, in 
all of which we have been totally unsuccessful ; nor do 
we imagine it possible to separate it from the plant, 
in order to gain these peculiar properties. Balm is 
another herb which is used for flavouring drinks ; but 
we do not recommend it, although we find it spoken of 
in an old medical work as a very good help to digestion, 
and to open obstructions to the brain, &c, &c. Mint 
gives an agreeable flavour to Juleps, but is not of 
general application. A sprig of sweet-scented verbena, 
put into some cups, imparts an aromatic and agreeable 
flavour ; but all these herbs must be used with caution, 
and are only pleasant when judiciously introduced. 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 33 

Let your utensils be clean, and your ingredients of 
first-rate quality, and, unless you have some one very 
trustworthy and reliable, take the matter in hand your- 
self ; for nothing is so annoying to the host, or so 
unpalatable to the guests, as a badly compounded cup. 
In order that the magnitude of this important business 
may be fully understood and properly estimated, we 
will transfer some of the excellent aphoristic remarks of 
the illustrious Billy Dawson (though we have not the 
least idea who he was), whose illustricity consisted in 
being the only man who could brew Punch. This is 
his testimony: — " The man who sees, does, or thinks of 
anything while he is making Punch, may as well look 
for the North-west Passage on Mutton Hill. A man 
can never make good Punch unless he is satisfied, nay 
positive, that no man breathing can make better. I 
can and do make good Punch, because I do nothing 
else ; and this is my way of doing it. I retire to a 
solitary corner, with my ingredients ready sorted ; they 
are as follows ; and I mix them in the order they are 
here written. Sugar, twelve tolerable lumps ; hot water, 
one pint ; lemons, two, the juice and peel; old Jamaica 
rum, two gills; brandy, one gill; porter or stout, half a 
gill; arrack, a slight dash. I allow myself five minutes 
to make a bowl on the foregoing proportions, carefully 
stirring the mixture as I furnish the ingredients until 
it actually foams ; and then, Kangaroos ! how beautiful 
it is ! ! " If, however, for convenience, you place the 
matter in the hands of your domestic, I would advise 
you to caution her on the importance of the office, and 

c 5 



34 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



this could not be better effected than by using the words 
of the witty Dr. King : — 

" 0 Peggy, Peggy, when thou go'st to brew, 
Consider well what you 're about to do ; 
Be very wise — very sedately think 
That what you 're going to make is — drink ; 
Consider who must drink that drink, and then 
What 'tis to have the praise of honest men ; 
Then future ages shall of Peggy tell, 
The nymph who spiced the brewages so well." 

Respecting the size of the cup no fixed rule can be 
laid down, because it must mainly depend upon the 
number who have to partake of it ; and be it remem- 
bered that, as cups are not intended to be quaffed ad 
libitum, as did Bicias, of whom Cornelius Agrippa 
says — 

" To Bicias shee it gave, and sayd, 
6 Drink of this cup of myne.' 
He quickly quafte it, and left not 
Of licoure any sygne,"-— 

let quality prevail over quantity, and try to hit a 
happy medium between the cup of Nestor, which was so 
large that a young man could not carry it, and the 
country half-pint of our own day, which we have heard 
of as being so small that a string has to be tied to it to 
prevent it slipping down with the cider. 

In order to appreciate the delicacy of a well-com- 
pounded cup, we would venture to suggest this laconic 
rule, " When you drink— think." Many a good bottle 
has passed the first round, in the midst of conversation, 
without its merits being discovered. 



CUPS AND THETR CUSTOMS. 



35 



OLD RECIPES. 

First and foremost among compound drinks, with 
regard to priority of date, stands Hydromel, the favourite 
beverage of the ancient Britons, which is probably the 
same as that made and used at the present day under 
the name of Metheglin, a word derived from the Welsh 
Medey-glin, and spoken of by Howell, who was Clerk to 
the Privy Council in 1640. In ancient times, however, 
this compound was made by simply diluting honey with 
water ; but, at the present day, substances are usually 
added to it to cause it to ferment ; and when made in 
this way, it differs little from mead or bragget. 

Recipe for Metheglin. 

To nine gallons of boiling water put twenty-eight 
pounds of honey, add the peel of three lemoos, with 
a small quantity of ginger, mace, cloves, and rosemary ; 
when this is quite cold, add two tablespoonfuls of 
yeast. Put this into a cask, and allow it to ferment ; 
at the expiration of six months, bottle it off for use. 

Another favourite drink in olden times was that called 
" Lamb's Wool/' which derived its name from the 
1st of November, a day dedicated to the angel presiding 
over fruits and seeds, and termed " La Mas-ubal," which 
has subsequently been corrupted into " lamb's wool." 



36 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Recipe for Lamb's Wool. 

To one quart of strong hot ale add the pulp of six 
roasted apples, together with a small quantity of grated 
nutmeg and ginger, with a sufficient quantity of raw 
sugar to sweeten it ; stir the mixture assiduously, and 
let it be served hot. 

Of equal antiquity, and of nearly the same composition, 
is the Wassail Bowl, which in many parts of England 
is still partaken of on Christmas Eve, and is alluded to 
by Shakspeare in his " Midsummer Night's Dream." 
In Jesus College, Oxford, we are told, it is drunk on the 
Festival of St. David, out of a silver-gilt bowl holding 
ten gallons, which was presented to that College by Sir 
Watkin William Wynne, in 1732. 

Recipe for the Wassail Bowl. 

Put into a quart of warm beer one pound of raw 
sugar, on which grate a nutmeg and some ginger ; then 
add four glasses of sherry and two quarts more of beer, 
with three slices of lemon ; add more sugar, if required, 
and serve it with three slices of toasted bread floating 
in it. 

Another genus of beverages, if so it may be termed, 
of considerable antiquity, comprise those compositions 
having milk for their basis, or, as Dr. Johnson describes 
them, u milk curdled with wine and other acids," known 
under the name of Possets — such as milk-possets, pepper- 
posset, cider- posset, or egg-posset. Most of these, now- 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



37 



a-days, are restricted to the bed-chamber, where they are 
taken in cases of catarrh, to act as agreeable sudorifics. 
They appear to us to be too much associated with tallow 
applied to the nose, to induce us to give recipes for their 
composition, although in olden times they seem to have 
been drunk on festive occasions, as Shakspeare says — 

"We will have a posset at the end of a sea-coal fire ; " 

and Sir John Suckling, who lived in the early part of 
the 17th century, has in one of his poems the line — 

"In came the bridesmaids with the posset." 

The Grace-cup and Loving-cup appear to be synony- 
mous terms for a beverage, the drinking of which has 
been from time immemorial a great feature at the 
corporation dinners in London and other large towns, 
as also at the feasts of the various trade companies 
and the Inns of Court, — the mixture of which is a 
compound of wine and spices, formerly called " Sack," 
and is handed round the table, before the removal of 
the cloth, in large silver cups, from which no one is 
allowed to drink before the guest on either side of 
him has stood up ; the person who drinks then rises 
and bows to his neighbours. This custom is said to 
have originated in the precaution to keep the right or 
dagger hand employed, as it was a frequent practice 
with the Danes to stab their companions in the back at 
the time they were drinking. The most notable in- 
stance of this was the treachery employed by Elfrida, 
who stabbed King Edward the Martyr at Corfe Castle 
whilst thus engaged. At the Temple the custom of the 



38 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Loving-cup is strictly observed. The guests are only 
supposed to take one draught from it as it passes ; but, 
in No. 110 of the e Quarterly Review/ a writer says, 
" Yet it chanced, not long since at the Temple, that, 
though the number present fell short of seventy, 
thirty-six quarts of the liquor were consumed." 

Julep, derived from the Persian word Julap (a sweet- 
ened draught), is a beverage spoken of by John Quincey, 
the physician, who died in 1723, and also mentioned 
by Milton in the lines — 

Behold this cordial Julep here, 
That foams and dances in his crystal bounds, 
With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mix'd." 

This drink is now made by pounding ice and white 
sugar together, and adding to it a wine-glass of brandy, 
half a wine-glass of rum, and a piece of the outer rind 
of a lemon ; these ingredients are shaken violently, 
and two or three sprigs of fresh mint are stuck in 
the glass ; it is then usually imbibed through a straw, 
or stick of maccaroni. 

One of the oldest of winter beverages, and an especial 
favourite, both in ancient and modern times, in our Uni- 
versities, is " Bishop," also known on the Continent 
under the somewhat similar name of Bischof. This, 
according to Swift, is composed of 

Fine oranges, 
Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup, 
They'll make a sweet Bishop when gentlefolks sup." 

This recipe is given verbatim in " Oxford Night-caps." 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



39 



MODERN RECIPES. 

PUNCH. 

The origin of this word is attributed by Dr. Doran, 
in his f History of Court Fools/ to a club of Athenian 
wits; but how he could possibly connect the word 
Punch with these worthies, or derive it from either 
their sayings or doings, we are totally at a loss to 
understand. Its more probable derivation is from the 
Persian Punj, or from the Sanscrit Pancha, which 
denotes the usual number of ingredients of which 
it is composed, viz. five. The recipes, however, for 
making this beverage are very numerous; and, from 
various flavouring matters which may be added to it, 
Punch has received a host of names derived alike 
from men or materials. 

Recipe for Punch. 

Extract the oil from the rind of a large lemon by 
rubbing it with lumps of sugar; add the juice of two 
lemons and of two Seville oranges, together with the 
finely pared rind ; put this into a jug, with one pint of 
old rum, one pint of brandy, and half a pound of 
powdered lump sugar ; stir well together, then add one 
pint of infusion of green tea and one quart of boiling 
water. Mix well, and let it be served quite hot. This 
is an excellent recipe for ordinary Punch, and the 



40 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



addition of green tea cannot be too strongly recom- 
mended. In order to give Punch a delicious softness, 
one pint of calves'-foot jelly should be added to the 
above recipe. The addition of two glasses of sherry 
will also be found an improvement. 

Noyeau Punch 

is made simply by adding two glasses of noyeau to the 
above recipe. 

A tablespoonful of Guava jelly administers a fine 
flavour to a bowl of Punch. Preserved tamarinds, 
put into Punch, impart a flavour closely resembling 
arrack ; and a piece or two of preserved ginger, with a 
little of the syrup, added to Punch, acts as a stimulant, 
and prevents any ill effects which might otherwise 
arise from the acids it contains. 

Gin Punch. 

As a mild summer drink, and one readily made, 
we recommend Gin Punch, according to the following 
recipe : — 

Stir the rind of a lemon, and the juice of half a one, 
in half a pint of gin; add a glass of Maraschino, 
half a pint of water, and two tablespoonfuls of 
pounded white sugar, and, immediately before serving, 
pour in two bottles of iced soda-water. 

Whisky Punch. 
To one pint of whisky and two glasses of brandy 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



41 



add the juice and peel of one lemon and a wine-glassful 
of boiling ale ; well stir into it half a pound of pow- 
dered sugar, and add a quart of boiling water. This 
is said to be the most fascinating tipple ever invented, 
and, to quote the words of Basil Hall, " It brightens a 
man's hopes, crumbles down his difficulties, softens the 
hostility of his enemies, and, in fact, induces him for 
the time being to think generously of all mankind, at 
the tiptop of which it naturally and good-naturedly 
places his own dear self." 

If well made, in our opinion, there is no beverage, in 
point of generosity and delicacy of flavour, that can 
compare with Milk Punch, for the compounding of 
which, after numerous trials, we offer the following 
recipe as the simplest and best. 

Recipe for Milk Punch, 

To the rinds of twelve lemons and two Seville 
oranges add pounds of loaf sugar, a bottle of pale 
brandy, and a bottle and a half of old rum, with a 
sufficient quantity of grated nutmeg. Let this mixture 
stand for a week; then add the juice of the fruit, with 
five pints of water ; lastly, add one quart of boiling milk, 
and, after letting it stand for an hour, filter the whole 
through jelly bags till it is clear. 

Bottle for use. The longer it is kept, the better 
it will be. 

In Cambridge (a town of no mean authority in such 
matters) Milk Punch is made after the following fashion. 



42 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Recipe for Milk Punch. 

Boil together a quart of milk, four ounces of loaf 
sugar, a small stick of cinnamon, and the peel of one 
lemon ; then beat together the yolks of three eggs and 
the white of one ; add the boiling compound very gra- 
dually, and keep continually stirring the mixture while 
you pour into it a wine-glassful of rum and one of 
noyeau. Serve hot. 

The following compound is said to have been held 
in high esteem by the Prince Regent, from whom it 
derives its name. 

Regent's Punch. 

To a pint of strongly made green tea add the rind 
and juice of two lemons, one Seville orange, and one 
sweet orange, with half a pound of loaf sugar and a 
small stick of cinnamon. After standing for half an hour, 
strain the mixture, add a bottle of champagne, half 
a bottle of sherry, three wine-glasses of brandy ; rum, 
Curagoa, and noyeau, of each a wine-glass, and a pint 
of pine-apple syrup. 

Ice the compound well, and, immediately before 
drinking, add a bottle of soda-water. 

Many other recipes for Punch might be added, as, 
for instance, Egg Punch, Almond Punch, Punch k la 
Romaine, Spiced Punch, Red Punch, Leander Punch, 
&c; but the few we have prescribed will be found 
reliable, so we refrain from swelling the list. 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



43 



The simple admixture of spirits and water is known 
either by the name of Toddy, which is a corruption of 
an Indian word, Taddi (the sap of the palm-tree), or by 
the more truly English appellation of Grog, which thus 
derives its cognomen. Before the time of Admiral 
Vernon, rum was given to the seamen in its raw state ; 
but he ordered it to be diluted, previous to delivery, 
with a certain quantity of water. This watering of 
their favourite liquor so incensed the tars that they 
nicknamed the Admiral " Old Grog," in allusion to a 
grogram coat which he was in the habit of wearing. 
Hence the term Grog. 

Our favourite Milk Punch (see p. 41) is known in 
that famous club of naturalists, which we will choose to 
call " The Waltonians," as " Fundamental Gneiss ; 33 a 
delicate compliment to Sir Roderick Murchison, whose 
traverses about Europe in search of this ancient deposit 
probably suggested to them the use of the words to 
designate a composition of nice and agreeable flavour to 
the lower stratum of the stomach. 



WINE CUPS. 

Of all compound drinks, those having wine for their 
basis require the greatest care in their preparation and 
the greatest nicety in their composition. This will 
be evident to any one who will remember the fact, that 



44 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



not one wine-drinker out of twenty, excepting by sub- 
terfuge or previous practice, can distinguish, with his 
eyes closed, a glass of sherry from one of port ; although, 
when wide awake, no one ever confounds the two, and 
few there be who cannot distinguish a glass of fine old 
white port when they have the chance of tasting it. 

It is not our object, however, to discourse on the 
merits of particular wines, but to give recipes for 
the blending of such as are most palatable and whole- 
some. First on the list we place Claret Cup, as the 
most agreeable, wholesome, easily compounded and 
easily obtained, and as, under the new tariff, most people 
have learned to distinguish the difference between the 
two varieties of French wines, more or less, — though 
at present, we fear, to use an expression of Charles 
Dickens, " generally less." We have given a recipe 
for Claret Cup, properly so called, in which the wine 
of Bordeaux should be used ; and a second, to which 
Burgundy w T ine is more appropriate. 

Claret Cup, 

To a bottle of Bordeaux claret add two wine-glasses 
of sherry and a wine-glass of Maraschino, with a small 
quantity of powdered lump sugar. Let the above be 
well iced and put into a cup, and, immediately before 
drinking, add a bottle of soda-water which has also 
been previously iced, and stick in two sprigs of borage. 

Burgundy Cup, 
To a bottle of Burgundy wine add a wine-glass 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



45 



of noyeau, three wine-glasses of pine-apple syrup, 
one wine-glass of brandy, and a quarter of a pound 
of powdered sugar. Ice well : add a bottle of seltzer- 
or soda-water before drinking, and serve with a sprig 
of borage. 

Mulled Claret. 

The best way of mulling claret is simply to heat it 
with a sufficient quantity of sugar and a stick of 
cinnamon. To this a small quantity of brandy may 
be added, if preferred. 

Champagne Cup. 

To a bottle of champagne add a wine-glass of 
Madeira or sherry, a liqueur-glass of Maraschino, two 
slices of Seville orange-peel, and one slice of lemon- 
peel. Before drinking, pour in a bottle of seltzer- 
water, and serve with a sprig of verbena or a very 
small piece of thinly-cut peeling of cucumber. 

Moselle Cup. 

To a bottle of Moselle add a sweet orange sliced, a 
leaf or two of mint, sage, borage, and the black 
currant. Let this stand for three hours; strain off, 
and sweeten to taste with clarified sugar. 

Hock Cup. 

To a bottle of hock add three wine-glasses of 
sherry, one lemon sliced, and some balm or borage. 
Let it stand two hours ; sweeten to taste, and add 
a bottle of seltzer-water. 



46 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Mulled Port. 

To a bottle of matured port add a wine-glass of 
sherry, some cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a small 
piece of lemon-peel bruised. Simmer the spice in 
a little water, then add the wine; heat, but do not 
let it boil, and sweeten. 

Mulled Sherry. 

The same as for mulled port, with the addition 
of a wine-glass of brandy. 

Sherry Cobler. 

Fill a tumbler three parts full of pounded ice, to which 
add two wine-glasses of sherry, a tablespoonful of 
brandy, two teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar, and two 
or three small pieces of lemon. Pour the mixture 
rapidly from one tumbler to another several times, 
throw in half a dozen strawberries, and drink the mix- 
ture through a straw, or stick of maccaroni. 

Cider Cup. 

To a quart of cider add half a lemon squeezed, three 
tablespoonfuls of powdered lump sugar, two wine- 
glasses of pale brandy, a wine-glass of Curajoa, two 
slices of lemon, with grated nutmeg on the top. Ice 
well, and serve with borage. 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



47 



BEER CUPS. 

These cups should always be made with good sound 
ale, but not too strong ; and should invariably be drank 
from the tankard, and not poured into glasses, as they 
are generally more agreeable to the taste than to the 
sight, and it is imperative that they should be kept hot. 

Hot Ale Cup. 

To a quart of ale, heated, add two wine-glasses of 
gin, one wine-glass of sherry, two tablespoonfuls of 
American bitters, plenty of cloves and cinnamon, and 
four tablespoonfuls of moist sugar. 

Copus Cup. 

Heat two quarts of ale ; add four wine-glasses of 
brandy, three wine-glasses of noyeau, a pound and a 
half of lump sugar, and the juice of one lemon. Toast 
a slice of bread, stick a slice of lemon on it with 
a dozen cloves, over which grate some nutmeg, and 
serve hot. 

Freemasons? Cup. 

A pint of Scotch ale, a pint of mild beer, half a pint 
of brandy, a pint of sherry, half a pound of loaf sugar, 
and plenty of grated nutmeg. This cup may be drank 
either hot or cold. 



48 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Egg Flip. 

Add the whites and yolks of three eggs beaten toge- 
ther, with three ounces of lump sugar, to half a pint of 
strong ale ; heat the mixture nearly to the boiling-point ; 
then put in two wine-glasses of gin or rum (the former 
being preferable), with some grated nutmeg and ginger; 
add another pint of hot ale, and pour the mixture 
frequently from one jug to another, before serving. 



LIQUEURS. 

Under this head we supply only a few recipes which, 
by experience, we know to be first-rate, omitting a long 
list of the rarer and finer kinds which are imported from 
abroad, with the advice that it is preferable to purchase 
liqueurs of first-rate quality from a first-class house, 
rather than produce an inferior article of one's own 
making. 

Recipe for Curacoa. 

To every wine- quart of the best pale brandy add the 
very finely pared rinds of two Seville oranges and of 
one lemon, and let the mixture stand for three weeks. 
Then carefully strain off the liquid, and add as much 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



49 



finely powdered sugar-candy as the liquid will dissolve 
(about a pound to each bottle): it should be fre- 
quently shaken for a month. If the rind of the shad- 
dock can be procured, a third part of it, mixed with the 
orange, will impart a peculiar aromatic and very deli- 
cious flavour to the cordial. Gin, rum, or whisky may 
be substituted for brandy in this recipe, but not with 
an equally good effect. 

Recipe for Cherry Brandy. 

To each wine-bottle of brandy add a pound of Mo- 
rello cherries (not too ripe), and half a pint of the ex- 
pressed juice of the small black cherry called "Brandy- 
blacks." Let this stand for a week, and then add half 
a pound of powdered lump sugar and a quarter of a 
pound of powdered sugar-candy, with half an ounce of 
blanched bitter almonds. The longer it is kept, the 
better it will become. Where the juice of the black 
cherry cannot be obtained, syrup of mulberries will be 
found an excellent substitute. 

Recipe for Brandy Bitters. 

To each gallon of brandy add sliced gentian-root 
seven ounces, dried orange-peel five ounces, seeds of 
cardamoms two ounces, bruised cinnamon one ounce, 
cloves half an ounce, and a small quantity of cochineal 
to colour it. Many other ingredients may be added 
which complicate the flavour, but none is more whole- 
some and palatable than the above compound. 

D 



50 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



Recipe for Ginger Brandy. 

To each bottle of brandy add two ounces of the best 
ginger bruised ; let it stand for a week ; then strain 
the liquid through muslin, and add a pound of finely 
powdered sugar-candy. This should be kept at least 
one year. 

Recipe for a Hunting -flask. 

As to the best compound for a hunting-flask, it will 
seldom be found that any two men perfectly agree ; yet, 
as a rule, the man who carries the largest, and is most 
liberal with it to his friends, will be generally esteemed 
the best concocter. Some there are who prefer to 
all others a flask of gin into which a dozen cloves have 
been inserted, while others, younger in age and more 
fantastic in taste, swear by equal parts of gin and 
noyeau, or of sherry and Maraschino. For our own 
part, we must admit a strong predilection for a pull at 
a flask containing a well-made cold punch, or a dry 
Curacjoa. Then again, if we take the opinion of our 
huntsman, who (of course) is a spicy fellow, and ought 
to be up in such matters, he recommends a piece of 
dry ginger always kept in the waistcoat pocket ; and 
does not care a fig for anything else. So much for 
difference of taste ; but as we have promised a recipe, 
the one we venture to insert is specially dedicated to 
the lovers of usquebaugh, or " the crathur : " it was a 
favourite of no less a man than Robert Burns, and one 
we believe not generally known ; we therefore hope it 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 



51 



will find favour with our readers, as a wind-up to om- 
bre wings. 

Recipe. 

To a quart of whisky add the rinds of two lemons, 
an ounce of bruised ginger, and a pound of ripe 
white currants stripped from their stalks. Put these 
ingredients into a covered vessel, and let them stand 
for a few days ; then strain carefully, and add one 
pound of powdered loaf sugar. This may be bottled 
two days after the sugar has been added. 



LINES INSCRIBED UPON A CUP FORMED FROM 
A SKULL. 

Start not — nor deem my spirit fled : 

In me behold the only skull, 
From which, unlike a living head, 

Whatever flows is never dull. 

I lived, I loved, I quaff' d, like thee : 

I died : let earth my bones resign : 
Fill up — thou canst not inj ure me ; 

The worm hath fouler hps than thine. 

Better to hold the sparkling grape, 

Than nurse the earthworm's slimy brood • 

And circle in the goblet's shape 

The drink of gods, than reptile's food. 

Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone, 

In aid of others' let me shine ; 
And when, alas ! our brains are gone, 

What nobler substitute than wine ? 



CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS. 

Quaff while thou canst : another race, 
When thou and thine, like me, are sped, 

May rescue thee from earth's embrace, 
And rhyme and revel with the dead. 

Why not — since through life's little day 
Our heads such sad effects produce ? 

Redeem' d from worms and wasting clay, 
This chance is theirs, to be of use. 

Byeon. 



THE MUG OF A CELT. 




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